Angela Davis, humanitarian, global civil rights activist and Birmingham native on Friday received the Fred Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award from the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.

During the virtual ceremony held on Juneteenth, Davis was presented the award which honors outstanding individuals for significant contributions to human and civil rights.

“Let me express my deepest gratitude to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute for offering me the Fred L. Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award,” Davis said during a conversation with Professor D. Wendy Greene, of Drexel University, who hosted the ceremony.

“I was of course, very excited to accept this a year ago when I was first told I was chosen as a recipient,” Davis said, “… given the awesome work that has taken place since last year, the reorganization of the board, conversations with the community the pivotal role [Birmingham] Mayor [Randall] Woodfin has played . . . I will always treasure this award . . . everyone deserves to have their human rights recognized and defended.”

During the hour-long dialogue with Greene, Davis touched on today’s social climate and said people of color are in the midst of an extraordinary movement “in the aftermath in the egregious murders of George Floyd [in Minnesota], Breonna Taylor [Kentucky], and Ahmaud Arbery and Rayshard Brooks [both in Georgia].”